


Drabbles of Middle-Earth

by theycallmeDernhelm (onyourleft084)



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Different Points of View, Drabble, Headcanon, LOTR, Lord of the Rings, Multi, Shipping, What Happened After, an experiment in writing short fics, couple stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-22
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-02 20:18:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2824868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onyourleft084/pseuds/theycallmeDernhelm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Originally just 'Eowyn's Cooking,' now a collection of drabbles for anything LOTR that takes my fancy; usually short stories on what happened after the War of the Ring.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Eowyn's Cooking

She can't cook, and he's about to find out. Their first week of marriage she passes him a bowl of stew. It doesn't look bad until he takes a spoonful.

She watches him, eyes wide. "What do you think?"

He swallows, painfully. And retches.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"I'm terrible at this."

He smiles. "Well, I didn't marry you for your cooking."

That comment makes her laugh. And she tries again, again and again. Not to please him or to prove herself a decent wife, but, he notices, because she wants to. He watches her persist with the spirit and determination that had earned her a name of glory whenever people speak of the Battle of Pelennor. And she gets better at it until he can't get enough of her cooking. 

She smiles when he asks for a second helping, knowing it's not just because the Prince of Ithilien has a long and exhausting day. Once upon a time she would have loathed staying indoors and minding the house in her husband's absence, and finding food for him when he returned, but for him, she'll make every exception. Besides, it's not like that's all she does. She cares for their horses and trains young warriors. And she rides, far over field and mountain to her heart's content. The ring on her left hand binds her to him, but since their wedding, never has the shield maiden of Rohan felt so free.

And sometimes they do fight, usually because one of them is too headstrong and the other too kind; because he insists on protecting her when she's made it clear a thousand times that she can look after herself; because of a number of petty little squabbles that people who love each other usually get into. He always fears she'll never speak to him again, but he's always proven wrong by the hot stew left steaming on the table and the look in her eyes.

She sits, eyes riveted on her husband as he eats. She wonders how his own father never saw what she sees in him every day, from the moment she rises to her last seconds of conscious thought before sleep. 

Eomer watches them bicker, watches him eat her food, watches them spar playfully in the courtyard. Hopeless, he calls them. Happy stupid in love. But he says it fondly. His sister tells him they're going to have a baby, and he thinks, Oh, watch out. 

In the great hall bards fill their nights with cheer and song, warriors and maidens sit down to listen to tales of yore. Faramir sees his wife there, clad in the mantle he gave her, the mantle that used to belong to his mother, and that now swells over her growing belly. The bards sing of Fair Eowyn, Slayer of the Witch-King, and she smiles at him, almost in amazement.

"Darling, listen, they're singing of me."

He smiles back. And he holds her close. 

"Yes," he says, "Yes, they are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I watched the Two Towers Extended Edition today (for like the millionth time) and was struck by Eowyn's disgusting stew. And if Faramir knew what he was getting into when he married her. This fic speculates what married bliss would be like between the captain of Gondor and the lady of Rohan. Enjoy!


	2. Still Aragorn

King Elessar, they call him, another name to add to the list of monikers that Aragorn's been known as over the years. Another name means another person, and Legolas worries that he soon won't recognize the Ranger who hunted Orc with him not very long ago.

During the banquet, his new name goes right into effect. Not even the Hobbits call him Aragorn anymore, but Legolas forgets himself, makes one slip-up and instantly bows his head, embarrassed.

The king smiles, meets his eyes and says "you can still call me Aragorn if you want to, old friend."


	3. Let Him Go, Let Her Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dad bonding. Elrond/Thranduil semi-parallels. Drinking buddies.

Sixty Years Ago

Elrond pours two tall flagons of wine and hands one to the blond figure sitting limply before him.

"You could have asked him to stay."

Thranduil looks up at him, and for the first time a look of resignation, of despondency, is etched all over the elf king's usually proud features.

"I thought about it. But no...Legolas is not a child anymore. This was the right thing to do." He drinks deeply from the flagon, puts it down, sighs. "He is old enough to make his own decisions, so he did. And what was left for me to do but to let him go?" His voice has become dull and hollow. "Let him go." 

Thranduil's head drops down slowly so that blond hair pools all over the tabletop, and Elrond watches him sadly.

 

Sixty Years Later

"My daughter will not come with me to the Undying Lands," Elrond says, as Thranduil pours him a flagon of wine. "She says that she will remain here. With Aragorn. With her beloved." 

Thranduil's eyebrows raise ever so slightly. "And what will you do about that?"

He watches his old friend rub his temples slowly. "What else can I do? This is where her heart lies. And though it pains me greatly, I must let her stay." Elrond sighs. "Let her stay." He looks up as the king hands him the wine. 

Thranduil sits down opposite him. "We're a strange pair, aren't we?"* 

"Fathers whose children decide to leave them," Elrond murmurs.

"Fathers whose children have grown up," corrects Thranduil.

"But fathers all the same," Elrond responds.

The light-haired elf and the dark-haired elf raise their glasses to one another, and they drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *can y'all guess which other Lee Pace movie I stole this line from? ;)


	4. Requiem

The leaves of the White Tree, borne from their branches on some solemn, brisk wind, whirled and came to settle around Aragorn as he stopped before the new, clean marble statue, erected to honor the memory of Gondor's greatest warrior. He looked into a likeness of his old friend's face.

"Well, Boromir," he said quietly, "they did it, the Hobbits did it." A small smile formed on his lips.

"They simply walked in."


	5. Starlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> because I can't remember what actually happened to the Light, whether in the book or the movie.

Sam kept the Light of Earendil that Galadriel had given Frodo all those years ago. He'd tried to give it back to him, but Frodo told him to keep it. He was going to the Undying Lands, and he wouldn't need it there.

But Sam might.

Now a vial of the Elves' most beloved star sits atop a shelf in little Elanor's room, soothing her to sleep when all other lights go out.


	6. Not My Father

Again and again the Fellowship and other friends test the upper limits of Legolas' alcohol tolerance, and he indulges, taking drink after drink of all kinds of brew and liquor.

He's on his eightieth glass of wine when he turns round and finds himself facing a mirror, facing the image of a tall blond Elf holding a wineglass, and Legolas stops.

For a second, he thought he was looking at his father.


	7. Waking Moments

It's moments like waking up to his arm flung in drowsy protectiveness over her midriff that makes Eowyn glad, a thousand times over, that she didn't end up marrying the King of Middle-Earth.

No, she thinks, laying in bed next to the Prince of Ithilien is right where she belongs.


	8. Oldies

"Pip?" says the old Hobbit to his friend, as they sit under the shade of a great oak tree smoking their pipes.

"Yeah, Merry?" is the reply.

The pair of them lazily watch their grandchildren run about under the autumn leaves, waving wooden swords.

"We've had our fun, haven't we?"

Pippin smiles contentedly. "Oh yes. Yes, we have."


	9. Contraband

The silver ship is well on its way toward the Undying Lands when one of its passengers, a blond woodland elf prince, slips belowdecks without anyone noticing and steals into the cargo hold.

He knocks on the top of one of the barrels with his knuckles. "Are you all right in there, Gimli?"

A voice comes from deep within the barrel. "Just fine, laddie."


End file.
